Thin Line
by shadowfire
Summary: There is a thin line that seperates good and evil. Sometimes the two sides can be indistinguable. Lex tries to explain to Clark this simple fact


_AN: This was done for a writing class with the idea to put a superhero into a situation they would not normally find themselves in. I had no plans for this to end up the way it did but I liked it, and it fit Smallville...so here it goes..._

_Enjoy and review!_

_Disclaimer: The following characters do not belong to me in any way. If they did, Clark Kent would have never given Lana Lang a single glance and would have courted the other person with the initials L.L. who lives in Smallville._

**Thin Line**

_There is a thin line of distinction between good and evil. A father who rapes his nine-year-old daughter is a monster while the lady who hands out sandwiches to the homeless is a Good Samaritan. These are the clear examples of what constitutes bad and good. But sometimes it is not that easy to say who is the hero and who is the villain. Because often the most wicked of evildoers are not the people who knowingly hurt others for the sheer joy of it. No, they are the people who believe they are doing the right thing and cannot understand why people view them as evil. They are the ones that the superhero must worry about because they are not defined by evil intentions. Their road of destruction had been paved with dreams of a more perfect world._

_Clark Kent lived the typical life of a superhero, hiding his identity behind thick-rimmed glasses and baggy clothing only to shed it when duty called, revealing the tight spandex with the huge lame S front and center. He had his arch-nemesis in Lex Luthor, the bald mogul, who in a petty act of revenge had kidnapped his girlfriend of two years Lois Lane. _

_Wanting to make the typical stunt spectacular, Luthor had decided to tie her to the minute hand on the tallest tower in Metropolis, which happened to be in the center of a crowded amusement park. _

_When Clark had heard this, he had been slouching on the couch, filling up on cheese doodles and beer, as he watched a football game with unnamed teams. He had flipped the channel to find Lois on the local news channel in moral peril. They were, as always, waiting for Superman to show up and save the day. He couldn't disappoint them and ripped off the plaid button-down shirt and the checkered boxers that he kept on over his uniform, and jumped off his balcony, taking off into the air._

_Luthor had chosen that location for a particular reason; he owned it. This meant that he would be on an uneven playing field. Lex, being the shrew businessman, knew every ounce there was to know about the things he owned, and would certainly know his way around the amusement park if he needed to escape. _

_The clock tower was in the center of the amusement park where four different roller coasters were situated along with their respective food stands with the customary garbage cans for the people who were too stupid to eat before they hit the rides. It would be swarming with kids. It would inhibit him, making his powers harder to use since he might hurt someone. _

_Clark had to admit, though it angered him to think such thoughts, it was ingenious. It was perfectly executed to guarantee his powers being restricted and would allow Luthor to survive the encounter. And having a slight case of paranoia, Lex would be sure to be wielding some kryptonite if things got bad. That was the clincher to the plan; the only thing that had kept him alive was the fact no one knew of his weakness for the rare element. He would be forced to obey to keep his secrets secret._

_He passed the giant sign that announced his arrival into Luthor-Land and decided to land at the front gate. He could get there faster if he ran, since everybody was looking for him in the air. If he was going to get out of this nicely, which meant not encountering Luthor; it was better to go for the element of surprise. It would be futile though since Lex always came prepared for anything and everything. _

_Clark super-speeded through the crowd, weaving through them with only years of meticulous practice to guide him. The bright colors ran together in the haze that running so fast did to his eyes but he could still sense it was excellently decorated. He could smell fried food everywhere, the scent oozing into his nose and making him instantly hungry. _

_He stopped, hearing the delighted screams from the riders and the ticking of the coasters soaring higher and higher into the skies. A quick glance from behind the corner revealed what he had thought. The Clock had Lois strapped to it in a chicken suit, smiling beautifully like this was all a joke. Luthor had decided to play this off as a publicity stunt by the Daily Planet. The sad part that it would work and no one would know the truth. _

_The hairs on the back of his neck were beginning to rise as he watched her poor imitation of the chicken dance, trying to play this up the best way she could for the delighted children. He reluctantly turned around to come face to face to meet the Cheshire-cat smile of Lex Luthor._

_He looked the same as he did when they had first met: slim unassuming body with raptor-like gray eyes with his trademark baldhead that reflected the sunlight being so sparkly clean. He had forsaken his usual business suit and had chosen a light blue sweater and fitted jeans despite the warm weather._

"_Luthor!" Clark spat out as if the name was an unpleasant taste in his mouth._

"_It's nice to see you too, Clark." Lex nodded, the corner of his mouth twitching, wanting to smirk._

_Clark didn't feel the need for any more words and lunged forward to take a long desired swing at Lex. He could of course just killed him with heat vision and saved himself the effort, but there was something oddly satisfying about watching something so filthy and evil scream in anguish. _

_His fist came within about blinking distance of Lex's nose when Clark fell to his knees, feeling the familiar waves of wooziness and pain hit him. Lex had kryptonite on him somewhere, and he watched Lex's lips slip into a relieved smile as he bent down, grabbing Clark's arms._

_Clark was paralyzed, incapable of stopping him. The kryptonite being so close to him was making it feel like something had invaded his insides and was slowly trying to eat them. Lex was dragging him to a secluded building. It appeared to be some sort of indoors roller coaster from the terrified screams he could hear vaguely in the background and he let himself blank out, realizing he had no control and the pain was too much for him to actually think of a plan of escape._

_He must have been out for an hour before he opened his eyes again. All he could see was blackness and a shining light off to the side of it. It was then as his eyes focused that he realized he no longer felt any pain. He could get out of here. _

_But that hope was quickly dashed as he realized it was Lex who was sitting in the spotlight from the soft florescent lamp, appearing to be sleeping. All around him and the room was kryptonite, positioned to make sure that he didn't feel any pain as long as he didn't move. _

"_Why'd you kidnap Lois?" he asked, not having anything better to do then talk to his captor._

"_It never fails to get a good reaction out of you." _

"_We both know you could have thought something more original."_

_Lex snorted, his eyes flittering open. "Could have but why hurt anyone when you don't have to."_

_His pale eyes looked almost like glass in the dim light, so very fragile and Clark wondered why. Usually they just resembled ice, cold and unbreakable. _

"_You never have cared before."_

_Lex shrugged. "I just wanted to see you."_

"_I don't want to see you." Clark hoped that Luthor could see his glare from across the room. As always, it never got acknowledged._

"_I mean, do I always have to steal your girl for you just to speak to me? That's really cold, Clark."_

_He continued to glare._

_Lex didn't try to speak to him for the next few minutes as he slipped on a hooded sweatshirt, slowly rolling up the sleeves that were much longer then his arms. It was only when Clark looked closer that he realized it was his. It had been his college sweatshirt from five years ago._

"_Where'd you get that?" he growled._

"_This?" Lex grabbed the excess fabric of the sweatshirt and pinched it to refer to what he spoke of. It was all a rehearsed act but it gave off the effect Lex intended, innocence. "You left it at my penthouse a few years ago. I thought it would be cold in here today so I decided to bring it."_

_Clark mumbled something of his breath, and Lex chuckled, knowing he was being cursed out silently. Some things in life never changed._

"_Are you cold?" A vulpine grin spread across his face, an intentional act like everything he did. He wanted his ex-friend to be questioning what evil action he had done. _

_Clark fell for the bait, and looked around nervously, confused. He finally glanced down and screamed._

_He was naked from the waist up. All he had was a pair of florescent orange boxers similar to a prison uniform and he snarled at Lex, his mind already formulating various ways to kill the baldie._

_He opened his mouth to yell but Lex already knew his question. _

"_I don't like your costume. It's gaudy." He explained._

"_And you couldn't dress me in something less..."_

"_Provocative? Why would I do that? After all, I am a sadistic evil mastermind in your own words."_

"_You stripped me!" He was still angry and very much embarrassed._

"_It's not like its anything I haven't seen before," he pointed out, wiggling his eyebrows for effect. Clark's face reddened instantly._

"_Pervert," was his only come-back_

_Lex only responded with a smile, letting them settle back into the comfortable silence._

"_Do you remember why you started to hate me," the silence being broken by Lex's whispered words,_

"_Yeah."_

"_Can you tell me what it is?"_

"_Why?" Clark was suspicious as always. The most dangerous thing to Lex was not his actions, but what he said. Traps were often laced into what he spoke to get people to agree and acknowledge his points and arguments._

"_I don't remember. Can you tell me?"_

_Clark just looked at him blankly, searching his mind frantically for the reason their friendship collapsed to find that he didn't know either. _

"_That's what I thought..." Lex hissed, smirking and Clark realized that he had fallen into the trap. It was time for him to dig himself out of it._

"_The reason we stopped being friends was because of this! You and your insatiable desire to know everything about me destroyed our friendship, All you could think about was power, how to get that power with no regard to how many people you took out of the way..." Clark roared, allowing his anger to consume him. It was like pulling up hatred with the old memories, and adrenaline was coursing through his veins._

"_You made me that way."_

_Clark couldn't suppress the cold laugh that erupted from his mouth from the petty comment. "I made you that way? You were always that way!"_

"_I was not!" _

_Lex looked more and more like a child, sitting in the light. He had his arms wrapped around his knees, hugging them to his chest, and the shine off his baldhead gave him the appearance of a dying cancer patient then a full-grown man in his late 30s. _

"_You killed your own father so you could take over the business!" _

"_He did that to himself. He should have never tried to kill me."_

_Screaming could be heard in the background as the lone light flickered as Clark sat, stunned speechless, looking at the poker-faced Luthor. _

"_Humans can only avoid their destiny for so long as there are people who still believe in them, allowing them to fight. For the minute I was born, I've fought against that darkness. But you can only fight as long as someone believes you can overcome it. When you stopped being my friend, no one cared...and it was then that I stopped caring about everything but the power I so seeked."_

"_You could have fought it!"_

"_What's the point? I will always be Lex Luthor, heir to my father's image. I will always have to bear his sins no matter how good I am. No one will ever see me as a nice guy. When I do something nice, it's only to appease the media to make myself look nice. When I do something cruel, it is to advance my aims." He sounded almost defeated and this brought great joy to Clark._

"_So you give into your evil side by going over to third world countries and blowing them up? That really inspires hopes that you secretly are a good guy at heart." _

"_They were all going to die anyway..."_

_Clark couldn't believe how coldhearted Lex was being. His voice lacked any sort of remorse or uncertainty about the horrendous acts he had committed._

"..._From famine or disease. So why not end their suffering in one quick explosion? It's more humane then letting them waste away to nothing."_

"_The world has more then enough food for them to spare some to them and we have cures for their diseases!"_

"_It just prolongs the inevitable."_

"_How dare you play God and decide when they will die?"_

"_You play God as well...saving people who should have died by the hands of an murderer. Don't say the things we do are any different?"_

"_They are...I am not killing people. You are!"_

"_So what do you call chasing a man down Main Street so you can kill him for beating his wife to near death? What do you call taking an iron pipe and crushing it against his legs to make sure he wouldn't run and then his arms so he wouldn't fight you? He never had a chance against you anyhow, you could have just killed him with one blow to the skull but instead, finally when the pain came too much for him and he was sniveling, you killed him. Do you define that as not killing a man, Superman?"_

"_There is a difference," Clark mumbled._

"_Oh please, do tell."_

"_The people you kill are innocent, they never had a choice. Me, I kill the people who are wrong...who hurt other people!"_

_Lex began to laugh uncontrollably, tears beginning to stream down his face. Clark wasn't sure what Lex had found to be so funny, but it couldn't be good seeing that Lex was maliciously smiling._

"_Don't give me your moral bullshit speech on right and wrong. No one is ever innocent and no one ever deserves to die. Maybe the man you killed was the one being abused. Maybe he finally got the guts up to hit his wife back but no, since he is a big strong man and she is a weak pretty woman with bruises on her face, he is immediately the bad guy. You killed him out of hatred. You enjoyed playing with him, watching his face scrunch up in pain as you slowly broke every bone in his limbs, smiling, as he got more and more afraid._

"_He begged you to stop and you just laughed in his face before breaking his nose. You only stopped when you heard people coming and left it to make them believe he was murdered by someone other then their lovable local superhero. He may have been wrong, but you were wrong to make him suffer! You are just as much as evil as you presumed he was."_

"_How do you know that was what exactly happened?" Clark murmured._

"_I have eyes everywhere in this city. I have it on film."_

"_Why did you do that?"_

"_Keep your friends close, but keep your enemies closer. You were once my friend, now my enemy. It's only fair that I know everything that happens in my city."_

_Clark wanted to argue over the fact that Lex didn't own the city, but he knew he would lose. He would always lose in a battle of wits with Lex. His alien brain, though however superior it was to humans, couldn't match Lex's or even come close._

_He was getting sick of sitting on the cold hard floor. It wasn't like he actually felt the coldness seeping into his skin or felt the pain of the floor resting on a particularly bony part of his body. He was just annoyed with the fact he was the most powerful man on the earth in the same room of his eternal foe and wasn't doing anything about it. He was getting tired of Lex calling all the shots. _

_He did a quick scan around of the kryptonite that was stashed around and viewed it as being not too problematic. He had spent the past few months preparing for this moment, training to break his weakness against the green metal. The quicker he got out of here, the sooner he could go and rescue Lois from her repetitious activity of entertaining kids._

_He stood up, shooting towards the other side of the room where the kryptonite obstacle course ended. He noticed that Lex didn't even blink an eye as he moved and he wondered why until he felt the stab of pain in his left foot as his foot touched one of the blocks._

_Searing pain spread through it and he pondered if this was what it felt like when an ankle was broken. He blocked the pain from his mind and rocketed towards the wall. It felt like more and more weights were being added onto his body, bringing his body to feel like an inferno of lava was crawling through his arteries and veins then actual blood._

_Finally the pain lifted, and he was by the far wall, about a hundred feet from Lex who had stood up to lean against the wall, watching him. Lex wasn't even phased by this development and Clark mentally scolded himself. This had been suspected to happen, meaning Lex still held all the power and was going to put into motion one of his thousands of back-up plans._

_Clark couldn't allow that. He was beginning to feel like this was all a set-up to get him killed by Lex. Reminiscing about the past was a sign that Lex was in an unstable mindset. His eyes switched to X-Ray vision in hopes of finding the door, to only see Lex's narrow skeleton and the lone florescent light._

"_The building is made of lead," Lex offered. _

_Clark growled in annoyance. It was time to go to Plan B: Kill Luthor and then find the door._

_He super-speeded at Lex, preparing to punch him in the stomach to only hit air. He stopped, knowing it was impossible that he could miss since Lex couldn't see him when he was moving that fast. There was only one other person in the world that could see him at his present super speed and he was an ally._

_He heard a click and lights began to flash on. Amazed, he saw the tiny dot lamps overhead turn on, making the ceiling of the building turn into a starry night. A choked laugh echoed around him and he drew his attention back towards the noise, which was undoubtedly Lex's laugh._

_He began to see why he couldn't find the door. Mirrors lined every square inch of the room from the walls to the floor, reflecting everything back at one another so it made it impossible to see what was real when a person was near a wall. He could see right in front of him, a mirror image of Lex just sitting there, looking calm, and he followed the reflections. Around the fifth mirror, he had gotten lost to where the image had come from, but he knew it was an extremely complicated system. _

_An X-Ray revealed that the mirrors were in fact made of lead, which made it impossible for him to see through them to spot the hidden doors. Lex had again, fooled him._

"_Show yourself, Luthor!" he ordered._

_He could hear behind him the steady step of boots hitting the floor and he turned around to see Lex standing in front of him, dressed in an Armani suit and black dress shoes. ' When did Lex change clothes?' he wondered._

"_Hologram." Lex answered, never needing to know the question. His freaky mind-reading abilities seemed to be in full swing. "As was the kryptonite."_

_Clark nodded in understanding; that was why he was able to move despite the huge dosages of kryptonite in the room._

_Lex glided towards him gracefully, and he realized that he was surrounded by Lexes walking over to him. He swore under his breath, again he couldn't tell which one was real. But at least this time he could see the mirrors and knew the trick to them. All he had to do was to figure out how it was arranged to allow twenty people moving towards him._

_His fist collided with the Lex, which was closest to him, shattering the mirror instantly. Clark smiled before howling, the delayed reaction setting in. A watery green liquid was running over his fist, and he watched in fascination as the veins in his arm swelled to a painful size._

"_Things should have ended differently between us."_

"_How so? I think they ended perfectly." Clark wiped his hand off on the glass floor, trying to get the dead feeling out of it._

"_I wonder if I had trusted you more, would we be standing here today with murderous intentions in our heads?"_

"_Only you have the murderous intentions..."_

"_I doubt that."_

"_Who's the one holding me hostage!"_

"_You need some intervention. And I, as a former friend who you despise with all your being, has decided to be the one to inform you of it."_

_Clark was flabbergasted to say the least, and stuttered for words. "I, need intervention? I am not the one who is taking random hobos off the street and running medical tests that kills them or even worse, keeps them alive."_

"_I have my reasons as you have yours for killing the old lady who lives near that phone booth you always change in."_

"_Your reasons are morally wrong..."_

"_And yours are right?"_

"_If she knew who I was, she could expose my family and the ones I love. It would put them in danger! I can't allow them to be in harm's way just because of the job I have."_

"_And you condemn me of keeping my family safe..." Lex mumbled under his breath, just loud enough that Clark could hear. _

"_You don't have a family."_

"_I do too."_

"_Yeah, your revolving door of estranged wives."_

"_It's not my fault that they all want to kill me."_

_Clark resisted the urge to answer that and Lex continued._

"_The only family I have and have ever needed is myself. I have to protect my family; they are the only ones who can keep the world safe."_

"_From who?"_

"_You."_

"_Me? Last time I looked, it was you who was trying to obtain enough uranium to build a nuclear bomb to blow up half of the world and me who stopped you from getting it."_

_Lex only grinned. "How many times have I told you that I wasn't looking for uranium? I already have enough to instantly kill three times as many people there are on this planet."_

"_Then what were you looking for?"_

"Kazakhstan just happens to be a major site where I get kryptonite. The nuclear bomb I have planned would kill you as well." 

"_Why haven't you used it then? You want me dead."_

"_I like you very much alive. You present a challenge."_

"_I'm touched," Clark mumbled sarcastically._

"_It actually is to make sure if you ever decide to pursue your quest of world domination that there will be something around to stop you if I am gone."_

"_Who said I had any desire to take over the world?"_

"_Because it is your destiny and even you can't outrun it."_

"_I will not succumb to it."_

"_Maybe not, but it would be easy for you to take over. People worship the ground you walk on. They would do anything for you. When you would kill, they would know it was because they were evil because you are a hero and heroes can do no wrong. There is no one in the world that can match your power, no one to stand in your way if you decide to take over. The only person who is standing in your way to achieving this is me."_

_Clark broke out in scattered laughter, hugging his stomach to keep himself from falling over. Lex shot him a dirty look as he waited patiently for him to stop._

"_You standing in the way? With what? Your massive reserves of kryptonite?" he managed to get out between bouts of laughter._

"_Have you ever thought about why you have yet to kill me? I mean, it would be so easy, You could easily barbecue me or smash me into a pancake within seconds without breaking a sweat. You have had so many opportunities to rid the world of me but every time they come around, you never get to it. Why is that?"_

"_You know the answer. You tell me." _

"_I keep you grounded. I ensure that you cannot achieve your destiny. This is why I brought you here today. You are slipping. Your high moral standards are falling by the wayside and I don't like it..."_

"_I don't care what you think," Clark interrupted._

_Lex continued, ignoring Clark's statement."...Without me to be your antithesis, you would just be another conniving power-seeker."_

"_Is this why you constantly hurt the people I love? To make sure I don't forget my role as a superhero?" Clark hissed, feeling his anger rise slightly as Lex nodded. "Oh that's right, you don't hurt them. It's your henchman. Well, you achieved your goal! I will never turn out to be like you so...so..."_

"_Ruthless?"_

"_Yes that."_

"_Deleterious towards oneself?"_

_Clark didn't know what that meant but he nodded._

"_Churlish and Officious towards the supposed side of good?"_

_Clark just stared, feeling like a complete idiot. He may have been a writer but superfluous words in his vocabulary weren't something he attempted to do._

"_Stop showing off."_

"_Sorry." _

"_Why do you think that I will forsake every thing I believe in and go for world domination?" he questioned, surprised to find that he was curious to why Lex felt the way he did._

"_Because eventually after stopping so many hideous and inhuman crimes, you will begin to hate the human race; hate the things they do to each other. You will want to change the entire species so they will be kinder to each other. You will want to kill the darkness that lies in them, squeezing out the corruptness that exists and make them as God intended, all perfect and virginal."_

_Clark just looked at him, feeling for once in his life, all the weight of the world. He closed his eyes suddenly and sighed, seeing the truth in what he said. He was already feeling that within him._

"_Why do you care if I go to that side? You would enjoy having the world destroyed."_

"_I would enjoy seeing the world cleansed but not by you. As long as you live, I can't do it and I don't want you to die and leave me the choice of doing it."_

"_I don't understand."_

"_You wouldn't, Clark. I have already embraced my dark side but I don't want to give into it completely. I want to still remain somewhat a good person. And I don't want you to give your dreams of beating destiny like I have." _

_Lex looked purely miserable, and the suit, which had looked so immaculate before, appeared too big on him, his body swimming in the expensive fabric. He appeared as if he was going to cry, eyes already gleaming in the light. It would be only be a matter of time before he began to cry._

"_Why did you go the dark side if you hate it so much? You could have fought it." After the words had passed through his mouth, he realized he had only spoken those words only an hour ago, only this time, they were said without contempt._

"_You drove me to where I am today..."_

"_I'm sorry."_

"_Don't be. Every person I have ever cared about has. It's like part of the job description for befriending Lex Luthor."_

_Lex shared a shaky smile and Clark smiled back._

"_Lex, seriously...why did you bring me down here?"_

"_To beg for your forgiveness and ask for you to be my friend again. It didn't exactly plan out like I had envisioned it to be."_

"_If you want to be friends again, I am willing to give it another shot."_

_Lex looked at him suspiciously before his face softened to a smile. "I'd like that."_

"_Good. Can you let me out of here so I can go rescue Lois?"_

"_Sure." Lex hit a switch and simultaneously, all the mirrors shattered, leaving only the center Lex. The lights popped on and he found himself to be in some sort of warehouse._

_Something was tossed his way and he caught it reflexively. It was his Met-U college sweatshirt and he looked at Lex in surprise._

"_I sent your costume back to your apartment. You'll look less stupid if you wear that along with your boxers when you go off to rescue her."_

"_You just want to embarrass me."_

"_That too."_

_Clark chuckled to himself and walked towards the front door where Lex was waiting, holding the door open for him. Before leaving, in a burst of sudden spontaneity, he asked, "Lex. Can I have a hug?"_

"_Alright..." Lex was unsure about it and approached Clark._

"_I can't touch you if you have the kryptonite on you."_

"_Oh...how do I know that you wouldn't kill me?"_

"_You have to trust me."_

_Lex looked at him, seeming to size him up. Clark could see the wheels spinning in Lex's mind to if he could really trust the superhero or not._

_Finally, he took off the kryptonite pendant he had in his jeans pocket, and Clark went to hug him without a word._

"_I wanted to thank you for reminding me of something today," he whispered into Lex's ear as he ran his hand up his back_

"_Hmm?"_

"_That you are too smart of me to keep around," and with that, Clark snapped his neck._


End file.
